Welcome to this week's "Gish Picks", where I highlight family-oriented cultural events, products or services. Please note that I "highlight" these events, but I don't know if they are appropriate for your particular children, so choose wisely based on age, maturity and interests.

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For those shopping for THE SUMMER BOOK® 2009 in the Museum District, I failed to mention in my last email that it's available at the Contemporary Arts Museum -- along with over 20 other retailers as listed on my website. Happy Shopping!

Now, GO FIND FUN!

EXPERIENCE THE ART OF POETRY AND CELEBRATE NATIONAL POETRY MONTH WITH THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, HOUSTON.

This Sunday, April 19 at 2pm at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston enjoy the unique pairing of poetry and art in the galleries with authors LuAnn Turley and Rita Whiteman as they read from their new children´s book, A Wreath, A Tree, and Me: Poetry and Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, a collection of fun and engaging poems paired with 18 works of art in the museum´s collection. The book inspires looking and problem-solving skills in the classroom or reading at home and also supplements the “Learning Through Art at the MFAH” integrated elementary curriculum, which the authors helped develop. The book is available in the MFAH retail shops for $15.95. Discounts are available for MFAH teacher workshop participants and MFAH members as well as for volume discounts.

A reception will follow the presentation. From 1-4pm, there will be a "Creation Station" where families can participate in creating art related to the book and at 2pm and 3pm, there will be "StoryTime Tours" of the galleries. Guests are welcome to tour the galleries on their own using gallery maps that will indicate the locations of works of art featured in A Wreath, A Tree, and Me.

HEAR THE SOUNDS OF THE UKELELE AND JAZZ GUITAR, TOGETHER.

Chapelwood United Methodist Church is wrapping up its 2008-09 Evans Arts Series of free concerts with ukulele player and jazz guitarist Khabu Doug Young this Sunday, April 19 at 7pm in the Chapel. Mr. Young has been commissioned by the Armour Foundation to compose new works and he has collaborated with a wide range of musicians, actors, dancers, poets and visual artists. A graduate of Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, he has lived in New York City since 1996, where he performs, composes and records. In addition to touring the United States, Canada and Europe, he has served on the faculty of the Queens College Summer Jazz program for the past four years. Khabu Doug Young creates music with a spirit of collaboration and interaction, exploring the continuum between improvisation and composition, sculpting sounds into musical journeys of the unknown. The Evans Arts Series is named in honor of its late Director Emeritus of Music, Mr. Ray Evans.

Chapelwood United Methodist Church is located at 11140 Greenbay Drive, near the intersection of Voss and Memorial.

WORLDFEST HOUSTON SCREENS CLASSIC KIDS' FILM THIS SUNDAY.

WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival presents it "KidFest Family Movie", Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), at the AMC Studio 30 Dunvale Theaters this Sunday, April 19 at 5pm. In this enchanting musical, Eglantine Price (Angela Lansbury) is an apprentice witch who, with 3 children and a cynical conman, searches for the missing component to a magic spell which will be useful to the defense of Great Britain during WWII. The 42nd WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival is unspooling through April 25 and will screen 55-60 feature films and 100 Short Film Premieres, with a complete emphasis on the American and International Independent feature films.

PARLEZ FRANÇAIS AT THE ALLIANCE.

The French Alliance is starting up a new series of French classes for children this Saturday, April 18. Their children’s program immerses children ages 4-15 in the French language, allowing them to learn in a natural way, through visual, kinetic and auditive experience.

Classes meet in seven-week sessions on Saturday mornings at either 9:30am or 11:15am. Tuition is $175 for the seven-week session. Registration must be in advance or a $25 late fee will be assessed and there is a one-time registration fee of $15 for children. You may register by phone anytime at 713.526.1121 using a credit card.

Sarah Gish
Gish Creative
1940-A Fountainview, PMB 116
Houston, Texas 77057
phone/fax: 713.532.1173

email: sarah@gishcreative.com
web: www.gishcreative.com
and: www.thesummerbook.com
and: www.saveourlandmarks.org

© 2009 Sarah Gish

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